Hattie Hoffman is found dead, floating in a small pool of water inside a deserted barn. At first the sheriff isn’t sure who it is as her face has been destroyed. When the sheriff Del Goodman gets positive identification, he goes to the Hoffman to tell them. They are good friends of the sheriff which makes him promise to find who killed their daughter. Hattie was an excellent actress in her life 24 hours a day. She wanted to please everyone. Her boyfriend is thrilled to have Hattie as a girlfriend. Her friends didn’t know that she wanted out of the small rural town she live in. Her plans were to be an actress on Broadway in New York City. One of her teachers is a suspect as he and Hattie were having an affair.

The novel is a mystery and psychological thriller filled with secrets that are discovered as you read it. It is a story told by three different people as they sees how Hattie lived. It is full of tension as I couldn’t decide who killed Hattie. It’s an amazing book that has me putting the author on my list for future books by her.

great read awesome writing i really enjoyed this author and this book i would reccomend to other for sure

Everything You Want Me to Be, by Mindy Mejia, is set in a rural county town in south east Minnesota called Pine Valley; here in Iowa I visit similar towns with no Perkins Restaurant every week & I found the depiction of the residents & the atmosphere perfect. I have never taught high school, much less @ a rural high school, but many of my former students have and report back that their students are “monsters” too. Hattie Hoffman, the protagonist, is a Thespian who has been cast for the high-school production of Shakespeare as Lady Macbeth, but by the second chapter she has become a murder victim. We get her story in flashbacks, as well a that of Peter, her English teacher, and in the present the POV of Del, the county sheriff who is the principal investigator. Tho’ the book is little weak on characterization & the story loses momentum toward the end, this is an excellent read.

When I read school stories I test the authenticity of the characters against my own schoolboy memories & my experience as a teacher, tho’ @ university. I ask, would I have felt & done what these characters feel & do? There I have some problems with both Hattie & Peter. Usually when teenagers are strongly attracted to an older adult, they endow that adult with a level of sophistication and savoir faire lacking in contemporaries & fellow students. Peter hardly seems to come up to what we’d expect to be Hattie’s standard – but then the choices in Pine Valley are very limited. I very much like Hattie’s being the instigator, like Thea Atwell in Anton DiSclafani’s Yonahlossee Riding Camp. Thea is an equestrienne, Hattie an aspiring actor, but both are very talented and determined to go for what they want. I found Peter too vacillating – in Shakespearean terms he is more like Hamlet tho’ one could compare him to Macbeth too. Personally in his situation, stuck in the boonies with a wife who seems to care more for her demented mother and the family farm than for her marriage, I’d have succumbed to an attractive & talented student who worshipped me faster than a heartbeat. How soon later would I have realized I’d cast my career, my marriage, and my fate to the winds? But when it happens, as a colleague advised me once when I was feeling the hot breath of Nemesis on the back of my neck, when you’re going down for the third time anyway, you might as well enjoy it. When things start to go pear shaped for Peter, he seemed to me indecisive, sanctimonious & cowardly. Hattie was much braver & more beautiful than he deserved, which raises her story to the level of tragedy.

The final quarter seemed much weaker, tho’ the very end is bitterly ironic & strangely satisfying. But I found Hattie extremely attractive. I’m currently attempting to write a school story myself with a character who is a Thespian & Hattie is an inspiration for me. Had I been Peter, I would have given Hattie the keys to my car & the keys to my heart & let her drive. It wouldn’t have turned out any worse & the ride would have been great while it lasted. And no bus tickets would be required.

Judged by the standard of Yohnalossee Riding Camp, not to mention the Autobahn intensity of Heather Lewis’s House Rules, Everything You Want Me to Be is a bit tepid. But it is a very enjoyable and engaging school story. I am grateful to Simon & Schuster & to NetGalley for a gratis advance copy. (less)

Everything You Want Me To Be was just about everything I hoped it would be. It kept me guessing from beginning to end - and just when I thought I had figured out who the murderer was, I was thrown another curve ball.
I do have a few unanswered questions, but nothing that will keep me awake at night.
I found most of the characters to be enjoyable, although not entirely likeable.
Great read!

This was an okay read for me. I liked the murder mystery angle and I liked that we got different points of view about what had happened with Hattie. My main issue was I didn't like any of the characters. I tried to connect with them but I couldn't it and I found myself not as invested in the outcome. The writing was sharp, but the plot was just not my cup of tea.

This was a great mystery and look at what drives people to do unthinkable things. I was left guessing until the end, and I really felt for the characters despite their bad behavior. This was a quick and enjoyable read!

Addicting, page turner, and it was over before I knew it! I was on the edge of my seat trying to figure out the outcome!!

I received a copy of this book through NetGalley and am so glad I did! Mindy Mejia has succeeded in packing all of my favorite elements in one book, small town drama, a psychological thriller and suspense! I got sucked into the book immediately and wanted to forget all about the daily responsibilities facing me so I could just sink into my couch and read all day. I look forward to reading more works by this author!

If there is any book you should read in 2017 - this is it!!

This book literally had me on the edge of my seat, I couldn't turn the pages fast enough. The twists and turns that it took... had me second guessing everything.

Hattie is a senior. She has spent her whole life being everything she thought others wanted her to be - the good daughter, the great student, the best actress. But then she is murdered.

Solving this case opens up many dark secrets in this small communal town.; and often is leaving you with more questions than answers.

This story is told in three parts (Hattie's, the sheriff trying to solve who murdered her and the new English teacher). Trust me when I say, you won't be able to put this down.

Definitely get to one clickin' now!!

This was a true page-turner that I've recommended to several colleagues and friends. I loved how each of the main characters were so fully developed. I felt I could see right into their souls.

Thank you so much for the chance to read and review Everything You Want Me to Be. I'm sorry to say that I wasn't able to finish the book. Because I didn't finish, I don't feel comfortable reviewing this title as I didn't get the full story. This doesn't stop me from recommending this title to those I feel like would enjoy the story and/or writing! It just wasn't a story that I was able to get into. Thank you, again, for the chance to check out Everything You Want Me to Be.

This was a quick, compelling read but there were elements in the story that I didn't like. I'm not a big fan of student/teacher affairs or husbands who cheat on their wives. Those two things made me more sad than excited to see what would happen next. Still, I had to see what actually happened to Hattie so I kept reading. I have mixed feelings about the book but the writing was good and the mystery kept me guessing.

The book is told from three perspectives: Hattie Hoffman, Peter Lund, and Sheriff Del Goodman. Hattie is a high school senior with big dreams. She has spent her life trying to make people happy and is just now learning who she really is. Peter is the new English teacher in this small town. He moved there with his wife in order to help take care of his mother-in-law who is aging. Sheriff Del is the local sheriff who is investigating Hattie's murder. He is best friends with her father.

The story starts with Hattie being found dead (and it is the blurb, so not really a spoiler!). Then it jumps back to the beginning of the school year so you can see how the year progressed and how she ended up where she did.

I enjoyed seeing where all of the characters started at the beginning of the school year and seeing how the story developed to get them all into the situations they were in. The characters were very realistic and so following their decisions and thought processes was interesting. There were some twists in the book and I didn't find them to be too outrageous. They were just twisty enough to be believable. I found the story to be engaging throughout.

This was my first book by Mindy Mejia and I look forward to reading more of her work in the future. I hope she sticks with the psychological thriller genre because she certainly has a talent for it.

Wow! This story fid not disappoint. Intriguing, and sad really makes you think twice on how you are towards others and consequences. I highly recommend this book to friends.

What a surprise ending, Just when I thought I had it figured out, bam - you give us a different murderer. A real page turner of a book.

OMG, this book was PHENOMENAL!!! So, the premise of the story is about this high school girl who is constantly altering her personality to meet others' expectations of her. She is found murdered, and then the problem becomes finding out who did it. Come to find out, she has some major secrets she's been keeping from everybody, and she's not the goody two shoes everyone thinks she is.

I literally could NOT put this book down. Shh, don't tell, but I even brought it to work with me. That's how good it was! The writing was stellar and the story was amazing.

P.S. When you find out her secret-she's living the fantasy of every high school girl in America, am I right????

From the moment I picked up Everything You Want Me to Be, I was engrossed in the story. I recently finished covering Pretty Little Liars on the blog, and the main character, Hattie Hoffman reminded me of Alison DiLaurentis in the very early seasons of the show. Although there was an initial comparison I soon found myself devouring this book on its own merits. The book is juicy and full of secrets! I would recommend it to anyone who loves a good tense thriller.

I think I read this book over maybe four days and it was a tense ride the entire time. I really loved the premise and as a fan of Jane Eyre and Macbeth I enjoyed those allusions.

Hattie Hoffman is a small town girl with big dreams. She has plans to become and actress, but those plans are cut short when she is murdered after her opening performance of Lady MacBeth. The town is in chaos trying to figure out who committed the murder. The flashbacks are a very good tool in telling the story of before the murder and draw you into wanting to know what’s going to happen next. This was really good read.

Psychological thriller that at times made me sick to my stomach and reminded me too much of Fatal Attraction. Told from alternating character voices highlighted just how manipulative the main character was. The level of dysfunction portrayed in a character who had completely fooled all those around her was disturbing. The end, although satisfying and worth getting to, wrapped up a bit too easily without much of a surprise. All in all a good read that would appeal to Mary Kubica fans.

Mystery! Twisting suspense! Fascinating read which held my attention. I mistakenly thought I had it all figured out; Ms. Mejia writes so fabulously that you think you know...but you don't until the final page is turned!

I received a copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. The opinions expressed are my own.